Barb in my group asked my opinion on what feat he should take, What do you think?

[Rfkannen]

Hi! A friend of mine asked me what feat he should take but I wasn't sure, so I wanted your opinion. He's a wood elf eagle barbarian, the tank of the party, and the only melee character in the party.

"Yo,

So I'm thinking down the road to level 4, when we get to pick feats or boost stats. My usual thinking is that early on, you want to round your odd stats up to even stats so you can have the benefits of the boosted numbers early, especially for CON. I'm curious what your thoughts are on this.

My current stats are 12/19/16/15/13/11, so I could boost DEX to 20 and INT or WIS up to the next bracket. Alternatively, I'm considering the following feats:

Charger: Bonus melee or shove attack after moving 10 ft, can have +5 bonus to that melee damage.

Defensive Duelist: Can use my reaction to add my proficiency bonus to my AC for one attack.

Martial Adept: Two Battle Master combat maneuvers and a d6 superiority die.

Resilient: Increases my DEX by 1 (20) and gives me proficiency in DEX saving throws.

Savage Attacker: Reroll damage on 1 melee attack per turn and take the better roll.

Sentinel: Hitting with opportunity attacks drops opponent's move to 0 for the remainder of the turn, Disengaging opponents still provoke opportunity attacks, can use Reaction to attack someone next to me who attacks someone else.

Tough: +2 HP per level, ongoing.

They all seem pretty good for Orri. What do you think?

-Redacted"

What do you think?

[Aett_Thorn]

So can I just ask why they put the 15 in Int, and not Str? As a Barb, I'd think that you'd want a decent Str score. And are they trying to use Reckless Attack with their Dex modifier?


As for the Feats themselves:

Charger: As an Eagle Barb, they get Dash as a bonus action while raging. This means that they can BA Dash, and attack twice at level 5. With Charger, you Action Dash, and then attack once. This will not be useful for them.

Defensive Duelist: Are they using Finesse weapons? If so, this could be useful somewhat. But they likely have resistance to the damage from most physical attacks anyways, so it might be better to just eat the half damage.

Martial Adept: I wouldn't take this unless they've already maxed their stats

Resilient Dex: I wouldn't take this, either. As a Barb, they get Advantage on most Dex saving throws anyways. Adding proficiency bonus helps, but there's probably a better way to get the +1 Dex.

Savage Attacker: Seems cool, but doesn't work out that well in practice.

Sentinel: Can definitely be useful if they are the tank (and only melee) in the group. Everyone gets to hide behind the Barb, and he gets to keep an enemy near him.

Tough: If they find themselves getting pretty banged up, this can help. But it's very dependent on how much they currently find themselves needing more HP. If they're never going below half health now, then more HP doesn't really help that much.


My vote, given what you've told us, is either Sentinel or +1 Dex, +1 Wis.

[OverdrivePrime]

At 4th level, it's hard to beat that ability score improvement with a +1 to dex and wisdom. If he's the party Tank, he'll want a better Wisdom save, and by boosting that dex up to 20 he gets a +1 to hit, damage, AC, initiative, and at least one useful skill. I can't think of any feat that can match that.

[Aaron Underhand]

As the only tank how often in Sentinel going to trigger?

He wont have an ally beside him to protect.

I would expect that in many fights he'll have one enemy next to him, and others trying to get through to the back field. No reason they'd get adjacent unless there is a choke point.

Unless he's using a whip I would doubt Sentinel will get much use.

+1 DEX however - used pretty much every roll.

I might put the other in INT (love the bright barbarian as a character!), and then go for Resilient WIS, but actually if the first three ASIs are DEX+1, CON+2, CON+2 then getting the plus to WIS right now is probably better.

Reluctantly I'd advise +1 DEX, +1 WIS....

[Beelzebubba]

What else can you tell us about the character? I mean, what's his background? Skills? How 'Elvish' is he? What weapon is he using? Does he also use a bow? Is he sword-and-board, two weapon, Great Weapon, or pole-arm user?

Is your table open to Unearthed Arcana? There's lots of cool stuff in the Skill Feats and Race Feats.

--

Other people have given excellent feat advice. Here's a bit more:

Resilient: If he's thinking of taking that, I'd consider WIS instead. As a Barbarian, he's weak to Will saves like Charm, Hold Person, etc. and any of those lock him down cold. Spellcasters and intelligent monsters with mind effects will definitely target him. Thematically I think it could fit Eagle.

Sentinel: Agreed, a good one. Additionally, this feat works extra well with a reach weapon like a Glaive or Halberd for maximum area control. He could follow it up later with Pole Arm Master later for even more lock-down and damage.

Tough: I'd only do this one after his CON is maxed. Improving CON gives him all sorts of other benefits - better Saving Throws vs. poison, disease, save-or-die spells, etc. that add up to be more valuable than raw HP.

--

I agree with others, DEX+1 WIS+1 is a great way to go.

I also like Athlete, it will give him DEX 20 and mesh nicely with Eagle's movement abilities at the same time. I could see him coupling this with Mobile later on to become RIDICULOUSLY slippery and fast.

[Aaron Underhand]

Sentinel: Agreed, a good one. Additionally, this feat works extra well with a reach weapon like a Glaive or Halberd for maximum area control. He could follow it up later with Pole Arm Master later for even more lock-down and damage.
....
I also like Athlete, it will give him DEX 20 and mesh nicely with Eagle's movement abilities at the same time. I could see him coupling this with Mobile later on to become RIDICULOUSLY slippery and fast.


STR 12, DEX 19.... and the only melee combatant in the group. So no polearm and no front line support - don't think Sentinel will work. Also as the only front liner he needs to stay put, so Mobile doesn't seem right, and Athlete will equaly probably see little use.

[bid]

My current stats are 12/19/16/15/13/11, so I could boost DEX to 20 and INT or WIS up to the next bracket. Alternatively, I'm considering the following feats:
Your friend will need resilient(Wis) later on, so no resilient(Dex).

Sentinel is the only interesting of the lot. Otherwise:
- SnB should take shield master
- TWF might want offhand whip to improve sentinel (so DW)
- Str13 if he plans to MC

[Khrysaes]

Yeah.. those are some odd stats for a barbarian.

If your table is allowed UA, then Elven Accuracy from Feats for Races would be my recommendation, otherwise +1 Dex, +1 Wis, or Resilient Wisdom.

The strength isn't insurmountable. One you can use a finesse weapon, and Dex is the god stat of the game, and two, you can eventually potentially attain Gauntlets of Ogre Power or a Belt of Giants strength, which will boost you strength to 19+, if needed. However it does rely on the magic item, which isnt guarenteed.

[Varlon]

Upping some stats is probably the optimizer's choice, but given that he's a wood elf DEX eagle barb what jumps out to me is the Mobile feat. It's nonstandard but it would make him the ultimate go-fast barbarian. He'll have 45 base speed at level 4 and 55 at 5. When he uses his Dash bonus action he'll be able to ignore difficult terrain (and have 110 movement). And while opportunity attacks against him will already have disadvantage, if he has an attack to spare (either with two-weapon fighting or Extra Attack) he'll be able to avoid an opportunity attack entirely if he wants. I'm imagining him running right past all the mooks onto the big guy and shredding him.

[Finger6842]

Hi! A friend of mine asked me what feat he should take but I wasn't sure, so I wanted your opinion. He's a wood elf eagle barbarian, the tank of the party, and the only melee character in the party.

"Yo,

So I'm thinking down the road to level 4, when we get to pick feats or boost stats. My usual thinking is that early on, you want to round your odd stats up to even stats so you can have the benefits of the boosted numbers early, especially for CON. I'm curious what your thoughts are on this.

My current stats are 12/19/16/15/13/11, so I could boost DEX to 20 and INT or WIS up to the next bracket. Alternatively, I'm considering the following feats:

Charger: Bonus melee or shove attack after moving 10 ft, can have +5 bonus to that melee damage.

Defensive Duelist: Can use my reaction to add my proficiency bonus to my AC for one attack.

Martial Adept: Two Battle Master combat maneuvers and a d6 superiority die.

Resilient: Increases my DEX by 1 (20) and gives me proficiency in DEX saving throws.

Savage Attacker: Reroll damage on 1 melee attack per turn and take the better roll.

Sentinel: Hitting with opportunity attacks drops opponent's move to 0 for the remainder of the turn, Disengaging opponents still provoke opportunity attacks, can use Reaction to attack someone next to me who attacks someone else.

Tough: +2 HP per level, ongoing.

They all seem pretty good for Orri. What do you think?

-Redacted"

What do you think?

Will he multiclass? If so into what? Then prime or secondary stat plus 1, DEX plus 1.

If not possibly Resilient DEX. The resulting boost to DEX saves with your new proficiency will be large and help avoid some spell damage while adding to AC, initiative, and depending on the weapon in use Damage as well.

What weapon(s) does he use?
"Dual Wielder" might be relevant.
"Weapon Master Longbow +x" would again max DEX and solve the Barbarians glaring range weakness, especially in large open environments. Proficiency with 3 other specialty weapons like whip or net can't hurt and would give some RP flavor. Nets can be awesome for capture missions as well (which are admittedly rare). As a side note some DMs will let you choose tools or languages instead of a weapon so proficient healer kit etc. Might be possible. Languages can be far more useful than you think, my party has 4 people with Dwarven which is pretty effective at battle coordination without giving away tactical info to the enemy.

There are items that boost Strength, Constitution and Intelligence directly to 19. I Save these for later unless there is a pressing need in the (unlikely) event that one of these items magically appears. Charisma, Wisdom and Dexterity have no big boost items. As such improving these stats through ASIs should be a priority. As such I recommend 1 Dexterity and 1 Wisdom if you have any proficiency that depends on it.

Also the Alert and Lucky feats are both incredibly powerful but heavily campaign dependent. Discuss these with your DM before you decide.

**Edit -add** in the event you expect to make level 20, keep in mind "Primal Champion" will add 4 to Strength and Constitution (max 24) so driving these numbers to max is incredibly powerful, specifically Constitution. 2 ASIs should be reserved for it.

[qube]

The strength isn't insurmountable. One you can use a finesse weapon, and Dex is the god stat of the game,not for barbarians.

the damage bonus of rage specifically states "When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength"
((I hope the DM handwaves this away))


As for what the character should pick? typically barbarians get their con & str to 20. +2 CON. results in +1 on AC, +1 hp per level, and +1 con saves

[FabulousFizban]

weird barb. How does your player usually fight with this character, what is his personal play style? choices should enhance that, or shore up noticed weaknesses.

[Innocent_bystan]

This could be an interesting read:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?468625-Graceful-Destruction-A-Guide-to-Dex-Based-Barbarism

[GlenSmash!]

not for barbarians.

the damage bonus of rage specifically states "When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength"
((I hope the DM handwaves this away))


As for what the character should pick? typically barbarians get their con & str to 20. +2 CON. results in +1 on AC, +1 hp per level, and +1 con saves

Losing extra damage from Rage is a bummer, but not that bad, you still get resistance to damage. On the other hand losing Reckless Attack is huge. It's the Barbarian's best ability and it only works with attacks made with strength.

[JeenLeen]

Adding a 'no' vote to Savage Attacker, since it likely won't come up too often. Awesome when it does, but usually no impact.

As an other idea, Lucky is always a useful feat (auto-20 a Will save throwing, or make sure you hit the dude you want to kill).

[Specter]

Right off the bat, I'll tell you Charger, Martial Adept and Savage Attacker are garbage. They're either situational or too limited, so don't go wasting an ASI on that.

The one that will be good no matter what is Resilient (DEX), because his DEX will be maxed and DEX saves are ubiquitous. If he wants a feat that expands his options, Defensive Duelist is also a solid one.

[GlenSmash!]

Defensive duelist is awesome if the barb is using a finesse weapon, which I assume is true due to the high dex score. Resilient wisdom is great on any Barb, Lucky is good and anyone, I would consider mobile on any Melee character too.

[Demonslayer666]

Hi! A friend of mine asked me what feat he should take but I wasn't sure, so I wanted your opinion. He's a wood elf eagle barbarian, the tank of the party, and the only melee character in the party.

"Yo,

So I'm thinking down the road to level 4, when we get to pick feats or boost stats. My usual thinking is that early on, you want to round your odd stats up to even stats so you can have the benefits of the boosted numbers early, especially for CON. I'm curious what your thoughts are on this.

My current stats are 12/19/16/15/13/11, so I could boost DEX to 20 and INT or WIS up to the next bracket. Alternatively, I'm considering the following feats:

Charger: Bonus melee or shove attack after moving 10 ft, can have +5 bonus to that melee damage.

Defensive Duelist: Can use my reaction to add my proficiency bonus to my AC for one attack.

Martial Adept: Two Battle Master combat maneuvers and a d6 superiority die.

Resilient: Increases my DEX by 1 (20) and gives me proficiency in DEX saving throws.

Savage Attacker: Reroll damage on 1 melee attack per turn and take the better roll.

Sentinel: Hitting with opportunity attacks drops opponent's move to 0 for the remainder of the turn, Disengaging opponents still provoke opportunity attacks, can use Reaction to attack someone next to me who attacks someone else.

Tough: +2 HP per level, ongoing.

They all seem pretty good for Orri. What do you think?

-Redacted"

What do you think?

Resiliant(Dex) has my top vote. +1 to AC and initiative and proficient in a common save adds a lot.

Sentinel is also very good if you have others in combat with you, or monsters (a DM) that like to run past you to get to the squishies.

The rest are OK, but Savage Attacker is not a good feat. It adds very little damage.

[DivisibleByZero]

"I have the least optimized Barbarian ever. What feat should I take?"
Tell him: Dude. Low Str, high Dex, and High Int on a Barb. Take whatever you want. It doesn't matter at this point. Your entire character is fluff. You can choose your feat based on fluff as well. I think Actor is a great choice in this case.

[Diebo]

How about +1 DEX, +1 STR?

This would boost the strength to 13 so he could multiclass into Rogue at some point. If you are finesse only, getting that sneak attack damage will be a good boost.

[OverdrivePrime]

[i]Your entire character is fluff. You can choose your feat based on fluff as well. I think Actor is a great choice in this case.
This made me snort-laugh at work. :smalltongue:

[Chugger]

"I have the least optimized Barbarian ever. What feat should I take?"
Tell him: Dude. Low Str, high Dex, and High Int on a Barb. Take whatever you want. It doesn't matter at this point. Your entire character is fluff. You can choose your feat based on fluff as well. I think Actor is a great choice in this case.

I laughed, too!

[GlenSmash!]

"I have the least optimized Barbarian ever. What feat should I take?"
Tell him: Dude. Low Str, high Dex, and High Int on a Barb. Take whatever you want. It doesn't matter at this point. Your entire character is fluff. You can choose your feat based on fluff as well. I think Actor is a great choice in this case.

Lol. You know I absolutely favor "play whatever want" but yeah, if I wanted to play a high dex high Int character would I really choose a barbarian?

[DivisibleByZero]

Lol. You know I absolutely favor "play whatever want" but yeah, if I wanted to play a high dex high Int character would I really choose a barbarian?

Exactly.
This is a fluff character. RUN with that!

[Herobizkit]

Healer. :smallcool:

Dex Barbarian is quite viable. It doesn't do its "main job" as well as as Str-based one, but eyy.

Based on that character, I'd likely just take the stat boosts or double-down on something like Crossbow Expertise. Have a nice sleek hand crossbow and "Commando" it up. Brrrp.

It's the tank's job to protect the squishies, but if everyone BUT the Barb is ranged, why not also be ranged and just destroy your enemies BEFORE they get into melee? That's what Dex is for. #GetAGuyWhoCanDoBoth